Baltimore schoolchildren and educators will stand by Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke tomorrow morning as he breaks ground for the Gwynns Falls Trail.The ceremony for the first phase of construction on the proposed 14-mile trail is slated to begin at 10: 30 a.m. on Franklintown Road between Winans Way and Wetheredsville Road at the original entrance to the old Crimea Estate. The celebration will cap years of planning by the city, community groups, the nonprofit Parks and People Foundation and the Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit conservation group.

Baltimore will spend more than $2 million to extend the Jones Falls Trail by another 3.1 miles from the Cylburn Arboretum to the Mount Washington Light Rail stop under an agreement approved Wednesday by the city's spending panel. The Board of Estimates agreed to accept the federal money from the state Department of Transportation for the next phase of the $6.6 million bicycle and pedestrian trail, which is planned for a 10-mile stretch beginning at the Inner Harbor and running north along the Jones Falls stream valley.

To hear its most fervent supporters describe it, the Gwynns Falls Trail being planned through West Baltimore isn't merely about a walk in the woods. They speak of the project in a holistic sense, with all the fervor of a tent preacher. The trail will be like "healing tissue" for a sick city, they say. It will create "a blueprint for the life we wish for ourselves," exalts the project designer.Clearly, the people behind this project see and feel something that might not be evident to the average person who knows the area they're talking about.

More trees have been cut down in the Inner Harbor - for bikers and hikers this time, not race car fans. A contractor removed 13 trees last week on Light Street by the Harborplace pavilion, according to Adrienne Barnes, spokeswoman for the city's Department of Transportation. They had to go, Barnes said, to make way for the final leg of the Jones Falls trail, which tracks the stream of the same name from Robert E. Lee Park through the...

Mayor Martin O'Malley will preside over a ground-breaking ceremony Friday for the Jones Falls Trail, a long-planned greenway for bikers, walkers and joggers. The trail eventually will travel through 20 neighborhoods that lie near Baltimore's central stream valley, which empties into the Inner Harbor. Funded with $1.3 million in federal transportation money, the first leg of the 10-foot-wide asphalt trail will connect Druid Hill Park and Pennsylvania Station to encourage use of alternate modes of transportation for work and recreation.

Count on this: No hiking trail is going to hug the Gwynns Fall behind Jim and Eda Bass' place, the tavern with the sign boasting "Best Crab Cakes in Town."The slope is too steep on their side of the stream. Instead, this six-mile trail -- this planned urban "greenway" -- will probably have to cross the stream to avoid the slope behind the tavern.And that's why a dozen people found themselves standing in the snow yesterday, talking and pointing and nodding and considering suitable locations for a footbridge.

By Robert Guy Matthews and Robert Guy Matthews,Sun Staff Writer | June 22, 1995

The plan to encourage Baltimoreans to walk or bike from Leakin Park in the Northwest corner of the city to Camden Yards without having to cross a street may be stymied if money is not found to fully fund the project.The $8 million Gwynns Falls Trail park unveiled last night at the Baltimore Museum of Art has funding locked up only for the first three miles in the 14-mile project. The next two phases, scheduled to be completed in five years, are up in the air because a federal grant may not become available after the first phase is done.

WHEN THE NOTION of a greenway along the Gwynns Falls stream valley was first proposed, many dismissed it as a nice ideas that would never materialize. Ye of little faith! With $2.3 million of the 14-mile trail's estimated $7.4 million cost secured, construction of the first phase is scheduled to begin next year.That first five-mile section will stretch from Franklintown, in Leakin Park, to the edges of Edmondson Village thanks to funding sources such as the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund and a federal transportation program.

WHEN TALK BEGAN four years ago about creating a recreational greenway along the wasteland of the Gwynns Falls Valley, many dismissed the idea as stillborn. But there were also plenty of believers, who have been able to sell their vision about a 14-mile system of trails stretching from Leakin Park's Franklintown to the Inner Harbor.If all goes as planned, the construction of the first section -- a 4.5-mile stretch -- will begin next winter. Meanwhile, design work for the second phase is beginning.

The Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit conservation group, has helped the city buy 3.27 acres of land in West Baltimore near the entrance to the planned Gwynns Falls Trail.The vacant land, off Swann Avenue in the Hunting Ridge neighborhood, will be a buffer for part of the 14-mile trail.Area residents are "pleased that as much parkland as possible is being preserved near our neighborhoods and that development will be limited," said Edward Orser, a longtime Hunting Ridge resident.The city purchased the land recently from the Archdiocese of Baltimore for $37,500, using money from the state Program Open Space, said Debi Osborne, a spokesman for the Trust for Public Land who negotiated the purchase for the city.

The state Board of Public Works is forging another fishing legacy for Lefty Kreh: a seven-mile trail in Gunpowder Falls State Park to be named for the former outdoors editor of The Sun. The trail's moniker will become official at the board's meeting Dec. 21 in Annapolis. Kreh, 86, is expected to attend. The Cockeysville resident, who has authored more than 30 books on fishing, appeared humbled by the honor. "I appreciate [the state] doing this, but it kind of embarrasses me," said Kreh, who grew up in Frederick and spent 18 years writing for The Sun until his retirement in 1990.

About 16 months from now, bicyclists will be able to ride from the Inner Harbor to Pennsylvania Station on a smooth path all their own. Little by little, crews working in the shadow of the Jones Falls Expressway are inching their way north, building a concrete and belgian-block median to separate four-wheel traffic from the two-wheel variety. The $3.5 million, state-funded segment of the Jones Falls Trail will start at Lee Street near the Baltimore Visitor Center, wrap around the Inner Harbor and follow the Fallsway to the train station.

Police are investigating the death of an unidentified woman whose body was discovered Sunday evening on the Gwynns Falls Trail in northwest Baltimore. A female jogger on the trail in the vicinity of 3900 block Windsor Mill Road spotted the body and called police about 6:19 p.m., according to Det. Jeremy Silbert, city police spokesman. The body appears to be that of an adult woman and appears to have been the victim of some sort of trauma, Silbert said. It has been transported to the medical examiner's office for an autopsy.

By Lindsey Citron and Lindsey Citron,lindsey.citron@baltsun.com | November 27, 2008

Take a night off from TV and experience crisp Baltimore air like never before. In a densely packed and populated city, it's easy to forget about the greener side of the state. It's even easier to forget how close to home it is. Wildlife and nature are, quite literally, right in Baltimore's backyard. The Gwynns Falls Trail stretches 15 miles to connect more than 30 neighborhoods in the Baltimore area. The trail consists of more than 1,200 acres, about 900 of which are forested. The trail association provides open access to bikers, hikers and joggers, as well as organized ways to take in the scenery, such as Campfire Hikes.

Could a bunch of West Baltimore neighborhood activists ever win a battle against a huge national highway? In the early 1970s, I sat in a West Forest Park Avenue living room and heard Carolyn and George Tyson speak of their work in a group called Volunteers Opposed to Leakin Park Expressway. Their ideas sounded convincing. Did they have a chance against the federal interstate expressway system, Mayor William Donald Schaefer and all those people in cars? They did; amazingly, the lawsuit held.

Baltimore officials opened the latest addition to the Jones Falls Trail yesterday, hoping that the pathway will provide a boost to the city's effort to become more bike-friendly. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin and Mayor Sheila Dixon ditched their usual business attire and strapped on bicycle helmets to celebrate the completion of a portion of the trail. In an inaugural ride, they led dozens of cyclists - including one on a unicycle and another pair on a tandem bike - on the 2.75-mile ride through Druid Hill Park, zipping by the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, the Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory and the park's lake.

Standing atop a cliff in Gwynns Falls/Leakin Park, Chris Rogers was awed by the magnificent view of the lush, green stream valley below. He completely forgot the hustle and bustle of city life -- only the occasional sound of a nearby siren reminded him that he was in an urban area instead of a mountain wilderness.The oasis of peace in the heart of Baltimore inspired the Recreation and Parks intern to energize a group of people into implementing the Gwynns Falls Trail project.That was eight years ago.Saturday, Phase I of the 14-mile trail officially opens and you're invited to join the celebration.

Yesterday's unveiling of the long-awaited Gwynns Falls Trail head near Leakin Park in Southwest Baltimore completes the 15-mile greenway trail and gives hikers and bikers a new gateway to downtown. Meandering past mallard ducks, an old waterwheel and pristine woodlands, on a journey billed to be 10 degrees cooler than elsewhere in the city because of the Gwynns Falls and the tree canopy, the trail connects more than 30 neighborhoods and 2,000 acres of parkland. "You'll be able to go from here to Baltimore and really enjoy the beauty of the park," Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin told a group of runners, hikers and bikers gathered at the Park & Ride at the end of Interstate 70 to celebrate.